8
7. Exceptions
Windows IME is not supported at the Preboot Security Level and the
HP Drive Encryption Level
InWindows,theusercanchooseanIME(InputMethodEditor)toenter
complexcharactersandsymbols,suchasJapaneseorChinesecharacters,by
usingastandardwesternkeyboard.
TheIMEisnotsupportedatPrebootandHPDriveEncryptionlevel.Windows
passwordenteredwithIMEmaynotbeenteredatthePrebootorHPDrive
Encryptionlevelandmayresultinalockoutsituation.Insomecases,the
MicrosoftWindowsdoesn’tdisplaytheIMEwhenuserenterspassword.
Forexample,forsomeJapaneseinstallationsofWindowsXP,thedefaultIMEis
calledthe“MicrosoftIMEStandard2002”forJapanese
1
,whichactually
translatesaskeyboardlayoutE0010411.However,thisisanIMEandnota
keyboardlayout(thekeyboardlayoutcodingschemeissimplypreservedby
MicrosoftforIMEs,whichthemselvesextendtheconceptofakeyboardlayout).
Sincethisisnotakeyboardlayoutthatcanberepresentedinthetyping
environmentfortheBIOSPrebootpasswordpromptortheDriveEncryption
passwordprompt,anypasswordtypedwiththisIMEisrejectedby
ProtectTools.Thesolutionistoswitchtoasupportedkeyboardlayout,suchas
MicrosoftIMEforJapaneseortheJapanesekeyboardlayoutitself,bothofwhich
translatetokeyboardlayout00000411(despiteits“IME”designationinthe
formercase).Another“IME”thatactuallytranslatestokeyboardlayout
00000411isthe“Office2007IME”forJapanese
2
.
Warning
WhenHPProtectToolsisdeployed,passwordsenteredwithWindowsIMEwill
berejected.
1
It is worth observing that this name is also different from the “Common Name in Microsoft Windows Vista”, shown in Figure 1. The
reason for this is that Windows maps some IMEs to a keyboard layout. In such cases, the IME would be supported by HP
ProtectTools, because the underlying keyboard layout definition, designated by the “Code (hex) column in Figure 1, is what matters.
2
This is an important consideration. The mere fact that Microsoft or a third party uses the term, “IME” or “Input Method Editor” does
not necessarily mean that the input method is an IME instead of a keyboard layout. This can make for confusion in some cases, but
the software itself always looks at the hexadecimal code representation. Thus, if an “IME” really maps to a supported keyboard
layout, then HP ProtectTools can support the configuration.